Snowboarding is a relatively new sport, the popularity of which increased dramatically in the 1990's. Unfortunately, snowboarding requires many subtle body movements on the part of the rider which can be a difficult to learn. For example, the snowboard riders hip movements indirectly effect the disposition of the riders torso, the riders center of gravity, the placement of the riders legs, and the ankle movements of the rider, all of which are important in snowboarding. Learning how to appropriately twist and turn ones hips is also critical in having a snowboard form an edge in the snow in order to control the snowboard and make turns.
In practice, teaching a person how to ride a snowboard through description or demonstration alone is of limited utility. A more effective method of teaching snowboarding is to allow a snowboard rider to experience the effect their body movements have on the control of a snowboard on an actual snow slope. Demonstrating effective body placement and movement is best accomplished by having an instructor direct the body movements of the trainee while the trainee is attempting to snowboard. Unfortunately, this is difficult to accomplish because it requires that an instructor accompany the trainee on a snow slope at a distance which both allows the trainee to attempt to independently snowboard and also permits an instructor to physically direct the movements of the snowboard trainee.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device which allows an instructor to direct the movement of a snowboard trainee at a substantial distance while the trainee is snowboarding on a snow slope.